Viggo Mortensen | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/viggo-mortensen
Latest news and features from theguardian.com, the world's leading liberal voiceen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017Tue, 26 Sep 2017 21:14:12 GMT2017-09-26T21:14:12Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2017The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Viggo Mortensen calls Argentina president 'neoliberal braggart'https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/21/viggo-mortensen-mauricio-macri-argentina-film-funding
<p>The Lord of the Rings actor, who grew up in Argentina, films internet clip Mauricio Macri a ‘neoliberal braggart’ over rumored changes to film financing</p><p>At the climax of the epic movie trilogy Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen rallies his dispirited comrades with a stirring call to arms delivered on horseback at the Black Gate of Mordor: “<a href="https://youtu.be/6t4xMgrpjBs">This day, we fight!</a>”</p><p>This week, the Danish-American actor once again delivered a speech meant to breathe courage into his flagging crew. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/viggo-mortensen-on-actors-behaving-like-babies-and-why-he-wont-vote-for-hillary-captain-fantastic">Viggo Mortensen on actors behaving like babies and why he won't vote for Hillary</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/21/viggo-mortensen-mauricio-macri-argentina-film-funding">Continue reading...</a>Viggo MortensenArgentinaAmericasWorld newsFilmFri, 21 Apr 2017 17:56:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/apr/21/viggo-mortensen-mauricio-macri-argentina-film-fundingPhotograph: Emily Berl/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Emily Berl/Getty ImagesUki Goñi in Buenos Aires2017-04-21T17:56:21ZOscar winners 2017: the full listhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/oscar-winners-2017-the-full-list-academy-awards
<p>All the winners from the 89th Academy Awards</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/moonlight-wins-best-picture-oscars-academy-award-2017">Moonlight wins best picture – two minutes after La La Land</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/la-la-land-trumped-and-seven-records-smashed-five-oscars-surprises">Five surprises</a><br></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2017/feb/27/from-u-up-to-cock-up-all-the-oscars-highlights-in-pictures">The night in photos</a><br></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/feb/27/dont-let-that-oscars-blunder-overshadow-moonlights-monumental-achievement">Don’t let envelope-gate overshadow Moonlight’s achievement</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/anatomy-of-an-oscars-fiasco-how-la-la-land-was-mistakenly-announced-as-best-picture">Anatomy of a fiasco: how La La Land was wrongly announced</a> <br></li></ul><p><strong>WINNER:</strong> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/30/mahershala-ali-luke-cage-moonlight-hunger-games">Mahershala Ali</a> (Moonlight)<br> Jeff Bridges (Hell or High Water)<br> Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/15/dev-patel-lion-observer-interview"> Dev Patel</a> (Lion)<br> Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals)</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/oscar-winners-2017-the-full-list-academy-awards">Continue reading...</a>Oscars 2017OscarsAwards and prizesCultureFilmUS newsWorld newsMoonlightLa La LandHell or High WaterManchester by the SeaJeff BridgesMahershala AliMichael ShannonNocturnal AnimalsStar Trek BeyondAlliedFlorence Foster JenkinsFire at SeaDeepwater HorizonHacksaw RidgeSullyRogue One: A Star Wars StoryNaomie HarrisNicole KidmanFencesHidden FiguresOctavia SpencerMichelle WilliamsToni ErdmannFantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemHail, Caesar!PassengersDoctor StrangeSilenceThe Lobster20th Century WomenKenneth LonerganMel GibsonBarry JenkinsAndrew GarfieldRyan GoslingDenzel WashingtonViggo MortensenGolden GlobesTue, 28 Feb 2017 07:15:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/27/oscar-winners-2017-the-full-list-academy-awardsPhotograph: Paul Buck/EPAPhotograph: Paul Buck/EPAGuardian film2017-02-28T07:15:21ZNocturnal Animals snub is failure of nerve as La La Land steamrolls Oscars | Peter Bradshawhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/jan/24/oscars-nocturnal-animals-snub-is-failure-of-nerve-la-la-land-steamrolls
<p>It’s odds-on for a La La Land triumph at the Oscars ceremony, but there have been some baffling omissions – principally Tom Ford’s brutally explicit thriller</p><p>•<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/24/oscars-2017-full-list-of-nominations-awards-movies">The full list of nominations</a></p><p>Every Oscar nomination list precipitates its single lead story, the apparently natural and irresistible emergence of a frontrunner. That of course this year is Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. This gorgeous romantic musical, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling and recalling the classic work of Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly or Jacques Demy, has a record-equalling 14 nods, matching the Academy nomination score for Titanic and All About Eve. It includes picture, director, actress, actor, screenplay, cinematography and even two entries in the Cinderella category of best song: City of Dreams and Audition.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/24/la-la-land-equals-record-for-most-oscar-nominations">La La Land equals record for most Oscar nominations</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/jan/24/oscars-nocturnal-animals-snub-is-failure-of-nerve-la-la-land-steamrolls">Continue reading...</a>Oscars 2017OscarsAwards and prizesCultureFilmLa La LandNocturnal AnimalsRyan GoslingEmma StoneDamien ChazelleMoonlightManchester by the SeaKenneth LonerganArrivalLionMichael ShannonJeff BridgesAmy AdamsNatalie PortmanNaomie HarrisCasey AffleckAndrew GarfieldFencesViggo MortensenCaptain FantasticOctavia SpencerViola DavisBarry JenkinsTue, 24 Jan 2017 16:34:40 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2017/jan/24/oscars-nocturnal-animals-snub-is-failure-of-nerve-la-la-land-steamrollsPhotograph: Allstar/Universal PicturesPhotograph: Allstar/Universal PicturesPeter Bradshaw2017-01-24T16:34:40Z2017 Golden Globes: full list of nominationshttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/12/2017-golden-globes-full-list-of-nominations
<p>Here’s who’s up for the awards for the cream of TV and film in Hollywood</p><p>•<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/12/golden-globes-2017-la-la-land-leads-pack-with-seven-nominations">Golden Globes 2017: La La Land leads pack with seven nominations</a></p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/04/hacksaw-ridge-review-mel-gibson-finds-a-conscience-in-gruesome-war-story">Hacksaw Ridge</a><br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/16/hell-or-high-water-review-cannes-film-jeff-bridges-chris-pine">Hell or High Water</a><br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/11/lion-review-dev-patel-and-nicole-kidman-hunt-oscars-in-moving-adoption-drama">Lion</a><br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/24/manchester-by-the-sea-review-kenneth-lonergans-morose-echo-of-margaret">Manchester by the Sea</a><br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/03/moonlight-review-devastating-drama-is-vital-portrait-of-black-gay-masculinity-in-america">Moonlight</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/12/2017-golden-globes-full-list-of-nominations">Continue reading...</a>Golden Globes 2017Golden GlobesAwards and prizesCultureFilmLa La LandMoonlightManchester by the SeaFlorence Foster JenkinsTelevisionTelevision & radioHacksaw RidgeHell or High WaterLionDeadpoolCasey AffleckJoel EdgertonAndrew GarfieldViggo MortensenDenzel WashingtonAmy AdamsJessica ChastainIsabelle HuppertNatalie PortmanColin FarrellRyan GoslingHugh GrantJonah HillRyan ReynoldsAnnette BeningEmma StoneMeryl StreepJeff BridgesViola DavisNaomie HarrisNicole KidmanOctavia SpencerMichelle WilliamsDamien ChazelleTom FordMel GibsonKenneth LonerganMoanaZootopia (aka Zootropolis)NerudaThe SalesmanToni ErdmannHidden FiguresThe CrownFashionGame of ThronesWestworldAtlantaTransparentVeepComedyUS televisionComedyLife and styleThe Night ManagerMr RobotHugh LaurieTom HiddlestonJohn TravoltaRiz AhmedBryan CranstonJohn TurturroChristian SlaterJulia Louis-DreyfusSarah Jessica ParkerGael Garcia BernalNick NolteLiev SchreiberBilly Bob ThorntonElleStranger ThingsBarry JenkinsMon, 12 Dec 2016 14:01:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/dec/12/2017-golden-globes-full-list-of-nominationsPhotograph: Handout/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Handout/Getty ImagesGuardian film2016-12-12T14:01:00ZFive of the best... films out now in the UKhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/30/swiss-army-man-mis-peregrine-little-men
<p>Swiss Army Man | Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children | Little Men | Under The Shadow | Hunt For The Wilderpeople</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/30/swiss-army-man-mis-peregrine-little-men">Continue reading...</a>FilmDaniel RadcliffeMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar ChildrenLittle MenViggo MortensenTim BurtonCultureFri, 30 Sep 2016 13:19:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/30/swiss-army-man-mis-peregrine-little-menPhotograph: Joyce Kim/APPhotograph: Joyce Kim/APSteve Rose2016-09-30T13:19:42ZCaptain Fantastic review – thrilling and poignanthttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/11/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensen
<p>Viggo Mortensen leads an outstanding cast as a grizzled rural eccentric who hits the road with his brood of home-schooled, off-grid children</p><p>The actor turned writer-director Matt Ross insists his appropriation of an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/may/25/elton-john-10-of-the-best-bennie-and-the-jets" title="">Elton John</a> album title for his second feature was “subconscious” and entirely accidental. Yet as I watched this strange and wonderful tale of an isolated family living a back-to-nature existence in the forests of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/may/25/pacific-northwest-seattle-oregon-coffee" title="">Pacific Northwest</a>, fragments of Bernie Taupin’s sublime lyrics from the 1975 title track of <em>Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy</em> kept drifting through my mind – from the disdain for “cheap easy meals” to the rejection of organised religion (“all this talk of Jesus coming back to see us”) and the assurance that “from here on sonny, it’s a long and lonely climb”.</p><p>Most notably, as the off-the-grid lifestyle he has fashioned for his family starts to come apart at the seams, the question posed at the end of one verse prefigures the central dilemma facing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/05/captain-fantastic-the-bloody-family-drama-shows-a-new-side-to-viggo-mortensen" title="">Viggo Mortensen</a>’s paterfamilias Ben Cash: “Should I make my way out of my home in the woods?”</p><p>A pointed discussion of Nabokov flags up the question of how loving or abusive his parenting may be</p><p>From its Lord of the Flies opening, Ross’s grand adventure injects a note of darkness into its Edenic setting</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/11/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensen">Continue reading...</a>Captain FantasticFilmCultureViggo MortensenRiver PhoenixSun, 11 Sep 2016 08:00:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/11/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensenPhotograph: Everett/REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: Everett/REX/ShutterstockMark Kermode, Observer film critic2016-09-11T08:00:55ZFive of the best... films out now in the UKhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/09/five-of-the-best-films-out-now-in-the-uk
<p>Captain Fantastic | Hell Or High Water | Don’t Breathe | Kubo And The Two Strings | Sausage Party</p><p>(Matt Ross, 2016, US) 119 mins.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/09/five-of-the-best-films-out-now-in-the-uk">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureViggo MortensenCaptain FantasticHell or High WaterSausage PartyFri, 09 Sep 2016 12:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/sep/09/five-of-the-best-films-out-now-in-the-ukPhotograph: AllstarPhotograph: AllstarSteve Rose2016-09-09T12:00:01ZCaptain Fantastic: Viggo Mortensen stars as a survivalist dad – videohttps://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-viggo-mortensen-stars-survivalist-dad-wilderness-video
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensen">Captain Fantastic is a 2016 American drama by writer-director Matt Ross</a>. Viggo Mortensen stars as Ben Cash, the patriarch of a family forced by circumstances to reintegrate into society after living in the wilderness of Washington state for a decade </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-viggo-mortensen-stars-survivalist-dad-wilderness-video">Continue reading...</a>Captain FantasticViggo MortensenDramaFilmCultureThu, 08 Sep 2016 17:44:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-viggo-mortensen-stars-survivalist-dad-wilderness-videoPhotograph: Regan MacStravic/SuppliedPhotograph: Regan MacStravic/SuppliedGuardian Staff2016-09-08T17:44:19ZViggo Mortensen on actors behaving like babies and why he won't vote for Hillaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/viggo-mortensen-on-actors-behaving-like-babies-and-why-he-wont-vote-for-hillary-captain-fantastic
<p>Gangster, killer, Aragorn ... Mortensen is not known for his comedy. But in new film Captain Fantastic, his grizzled deadpan is the funniest thing in a very funny film. But get him on to politics and prima donna colleagues, and he is deadly serious</p><p>Viggo Mortensen has just been on <a href="http://www.itv.com/thismorning">This Morning</a>. Before his slot on the breakfast show, the actor sat backstage watching hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford present an item about children crying on planes. Feeling playful, he began his interview by saying he liked to scream on planes himself. Kids, he said, asked him to be quiet. There was a dilated moment of live TV silence. Eventually, the uncertain laughter of Holmes filled the studio. “But it’s OK,” Mortensen went on, “because I always wear a helmet when I fly.”</p><p>He is still in the slick dark suit he wore for TV. He looks rueful. “It probably wasn’t the right thing to say. The helmet thing.” The presenters, he says, were baffled. “I think people don’t expect me to make jokes.”</p><p>In the movies you either have the happy family or total dysfunction. The reality is happiness and dysfunction</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/viggo-mortensen-on-actors-behaving-like-babies-and-why-he-wont-vote-for-hillary-captain-fantastic">Continue reading...</a>Captain FantasticViggo MortensenCultureFilmLord of the RingsThu, 08 Sep 2016 16:00:39 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/viggo-mortensen-on-actors-behaving-like-babies-and-why-he-wont-vote-for-hillary-captain-fantasticPhotograph: Emily Berl/Getty Images PortraitPhotograph: Emily Berl/Getty Images PortraitDanny Leigh2016-09-08T16:00:39ZCaptain Fantastic review – Viggo Mortensen doesn't earn his stripeshttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensen
<p>Mortensen stars as a survivalist dad who takes his kids to the woods to teach them authenticity in this low-cal take on The Mosquito Coast</p><p>There’s a meaty whiff of phoney-baloney in this fatuous and tiresome movie, replete with forced emotional crises and wrong notes, topped off with an excruciatingly unearned, sentimental ending. It’s a low-cal version of Peter Weir’s 1986 movie The Mosquito Coast, starring someone who is essentially a cross between Charles Manson and Captain von Trapp. </p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/05/captain-fantastic-the-bloody-family-drama-shows-a-new-side-to-viggo-mortensen">Captain Fantastic: the bloody family drama shows a new side to Viggo Mortensen</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensen">Continue reading...</a>Captain FantasticDramaFilmCultureViggo MortensenFrank LangellaThu, 08 Sep 2016 14:00:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/08/captain-fantastic-review-viggo-mortensenPhotograph: Allstar/ELECTRIC CITY ENTERTAINMENTPhotograph: Allstar/ELECTRIC CITY ENTERTAINMENTPeter Bradshaw2016-09-08T14:00:34ZCaptain Fantastic: the bloody family drama shows a new side to Viggo Mortensenhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/05/captain-fantastic-the-bloody-family-drama-shows-a-new-side-to-viggo-mortensen
<p>Best known for his contained performances, Mortensen is on sparkling form as a caring if deluded father raising his family away from society’s influence</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/31/captain-fantastic-sundance-2016-first-look-review-viggo-mortensen">Captain Fantastic: a heart-wrenching look at an unconventional ‘hippie’ family</a> </p><p>Captain Fantastic opens in a riot of green leaves and trees. A deer appears before us, pauses, and behind it we see an indefinable area of grey flickering oddly to reveal a human eye. Seconds later, six woad-coated tribesmen appear from nowhere, slash the deer’s throat, gut it and hang it to drain. A boy is blooded. He eats some deer heart. Today he is a man, his father tells him.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/captain-fantastic-film/2016/aug/26/why-the-young-cast-of-captain-fantastic-had-to-learn-how-to-track-a-deer">Why the young cast of Captain Fantastic had to learn how to track a deer</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/05/captain-fantastic-the-bloody-family-drama-shows-a-new-side-to-viggo-mortensen">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureViggo MortensenDramaComedyCaptain FantasticMon, 05 Sep 2016 08:00:24 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/05/captain-fantastic-the-bloody-family-drama-shows-a-new-side-to-viggo-mortensenPhotograph: Allstar/ELECTRIC CITY ENTERTAINMENTPhotograph: Allstar/ELECTRIC CITY ENTERTAINMENTJohn Patterson2016-09-05T08:00:24ZCannes day six: Kristen Stewart, Pedro Almodovar and Rossy de Palma - in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2016/may/17/cannes-day-six-kristen-stewart-pedro-almodovar-and-rossy-de-palma-in-pictures
<p>The big films of the day at the Cannes film festival are Pedro Aldmovar’s Julieta, Personal Shopper starring Kristen Stewart, and Sundance hit Captain Fantastic </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2016/may/17/cannes-day-six-kristen-stewart-pedro-almodovar-and-rossy-de-palma-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Cannes 2016Kristen StewartFilmCultureCannes film festivalFestivalsOlivier AssayasPersonal ShopperPedro AlmodóvarDocumentaryViggo MortensenTue, 17 May 2016 13:21:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/gallery/2016/may/17/cannes-day-six-kristen-stewart-pedro-almodovar-and-rossy-de-palma-in-picturesPhotograph: Ian Langsdon/EPAPhotograph: Ian Langsdon/EPAGuardian Staff2016-05-17T13:21:03ZInherent Vice; Jauja; Kajaki; Kingsman: The Secret Service; Mortdecai; Son of a Gun; Fishtail; The Apartment – reviewhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/07/inherent-vice-jauja-kajaki-kingsman-secret-service-dvd-reviews
<p>Paul Thomas Anderson’s woozy spin on Pynchon proves a grower, but Matthew Vaughn strips all the fun out of spy romps</p><p>As much is gained as lost when revisiting <strong>Inherent Vice</strong> (Warner, 15) on DVD. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/paul-thomas-anderson" title="">Paul Thomas Anderson</a>’s woozy 1970s shaggy dog mystery takes a cut in the smoke-screened, sun-baked west coast atmosphere that proved so enveloping in cinemas, but its diffuse, distractedly woven storytelling straightens out a little in the process. Only a little, mind you. The kind of film one looks forward to watching again even before the first viewing is up, it sometimes rewards untangling only with winking voids. Like Thomas Pynchon’s <a href="http://bookshop.theguardian.com/inherent-vice-2.html" title="">source novel</a>, Anderson’s film channels the intricate, mood-led bluffery of Raymond Chandler. The result is a spiritual bookend to the obtuse California noir of Robert Altman’s Chandler adaptation <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/dec/22/the-long-goodbye-dvd" title=""><em>The Long Goodbye</em></a>, with that film’s updates here converted to melancholy, amber-hued nostalgia for bygone hedonism.</p><p>What’s so remarkable, given this staggered chain of influences, is how warmly and pleasurably the film emerges as Anderson’s own: his cockeyed humour and more solemn humanism make absorbing work of the roundabout search undertaken by stoner PI Larry Sportello (a delightfully bemused <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/joaquin-phoenix" title="">Joaquin Phoenix</a>) for his ex, her supposedly endangered lover and, in time, any kind of exit strategy. It’s surely the director’s least immaculate, slowest-burning film, but it’s also something of a grower.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/07/inherent-vice-jauja-kajaki-kingsman-secret-service-dvd-reviews">Continue reading...</a>FilmCultureThrillerDramaWesternsDVD and video reviewsJoaquin PhoenixJohnny DeppViggo MortensenEwan McGregorPaul Thomas AndersonSun, 07 Jun 2015 06:00:03 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jun/07/inherent-vice-jauja-kajaki-kingsman-secret-service-dvd-reviewsPhotograph: /Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarThe 'delightfully bemused' Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarPhotograph: /Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarThe 'delightfully bemused' Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd./AllstarGuy Lodge2015-06-07T06:00:03ZOriginal Observer Photography: April 2015https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/may/02/original-observer-photography-april-2015
<p>This month’s showcase of photography commissioned by the Observer features plenty of people in the news: Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, jockey AP McCoy, footballer Eden Hazard. We’ve also got actors Timothy Spall and Viggo Mortensen, musicians Tracey Thorn and Nile Rodgers and lots more for your delectation.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/may/02/original-observer-photography-april-2015">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyArt and designCultureViggo MortensenAmir KhanOlivia GrantThomas Brodie-SangsterJohn GoodmanTracey ThornNick CleggTony McCoyFilmMusicPoliticsUK newsSportDavid WillettsTessa JowellJack StrawTimothy SpallNile RodgersEd MilibandRick SteinEden HazardSuper Furry AnimalsSat, 02 May 2015 10:54:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/may/02/original-observer-photography-april-2015Photograph: Phil Fisk for the ObserverPhotograph: Phil Fisk for the ObserverGreg Whitmore2015-05-02T10:54:30ZJauja review – a quietly magical mind-bender of the subtlest kindhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/12/jauja-review-viggo-mortensen-lisandro-alonso
Lunar landscapes and a haunting score co-written by star Viggo Mortensen lend a surreal quality to Lisandro Alonso’s Patagonian period drama<p>Argentinian auteur Lisandro Alonso is a revered proponent of “slow cinema”, specialising in the kind of films in which the plot can be summed up as: “Man walks across Patagonia and keeps on walking.” OK, I exaggerate a little – and besides, I love Alonso’s films. His latest is at once true to form and a striking departure. <em>Jauja</em> – the title alludes to a mythical El Dorado, or just an illusory “Never-never-land” – is set in Argentina in the 1880s and stars Viggo Mortensen as a Danish army captain posted to a stretch of windblown coast inhabited largely by walruses and much-feared, little-seen indigenous people.</p><p>He’s accompanied by his teenage daughter, who before long elopes across the plains with a young soldier. The captain lights out in pursuit across an expanse of increasingly lunar terrain. The film’s first two-thirds are strange enough, and utterly haunting, as cinematographer Timo Salminen shoots the desolate vistas in a 4:3 ratio, with rounded corners to the frame; the effect is of antique photographic vignettes brought to life in hallucinatory lush colour. Then things get stranger still, with a final stretch that requires you to take a considerable leap of faith and imagination, but I’d be giving too much away if I tried to explain just why the ending has shades of <em>2001</em> and Lewis Carroll. Alone on screen for much of the time, Mortensen, returning to Argentinian cinema after 2012’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/02/everybody-has-a-plan-review" title=""><em>Everybody Has a Plan,</em></a> treks ahead with taciturn, athletic charisma and a dash of sardonic wit. He also contributes an elegantly downbeat sliver of score, in collaboration with cult&nbsp;guitarist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czpwrg8zNls" title="">Buckethead</a>. All in all, a quietly magical&nbsp;piece of cinema, a mind-bender of the subtlest kind.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/12/jauja-review-viggo-mortensen-lisandro-alonso">Continue reading...</a>JaujaFilmViggo MortensenDramaWorld cinemaCultureSun, 12 Apr 2015 07:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/12/jauja-review-viggo-mortensen-lisandro-alonsoPhotograph: Courtesy Everett Collection/REX'Antique photographic vignettes brought to life in hallucinatory lush colour': Viilbjørk Malling Aggers and Viggo Mortensen in Jauja. Photograph: Courtesy Everett Collection/REXPhotograph: Courtesy Everett Collection/REX'Antique photographic vignettes brought to life in hallucinatory lush colour': Viilbjørk Malling Aggers and Viggo Mortensen in Jauja. Photograph: Courtesy Everett Collection/REXJonathan Romney2015-04-12T07:00:01ZJauja review – an existential quest into the hinterlandhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/09/juaja-review-viggo-mortensen-in-existential-quest
<p>Viggo Mortensen lends star power to a strange and opaque reworking of The Searchers, set amid an eerie South American landscape<br></p><p>Lisandro Alonso is the Argentinian film-maker renowned for the austere purity and difficulty of films such as Freedom (2001) and The Dead (2004). Jauja (pronounced “how-ha”) is this director’s first time with professional actors: Viggo Mortensen plays Dinesen, a Danish engineer who is recruited by the Argentinian government in the late 19th century to assist the army in the brutal settlement of Patagonia. In that eerily blank, forbidding and featureless landscape, tensions mount. His teenage daughter Ingeborg (whom he has unwisely brought along) runs off with an Argentinian soldier, and Dinesen embarks on an angry existential quest into the deep hinterland to bring her back. The film is shot with an almost primitivist simplicity: it is certainly nothing like John Ford’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/19/searchers-ford-action" title="">The Searchers</a>. Jauja is filmed so sparely, with such basic compositions, and with period costumes so artificial-looking against the timeless scrub, that often it looks like nothing so much as a silent film. You could easily imagine these figures on a flickering black-and-white screen. The strangeness increases exponentially as Dinesen encounters a&nbsp;wise woman in a cave who asks him what Ingeborg’s mother was like. “Like a carnivorous plant that grows by night, focusing all its energy on the insect it would devour,” is his reply. The final sequence offers some explanation for the weirdness, and then mysteriously appears to withdraw or qualify the explanation. Intriguing, if opaque.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/09/juaja-review-viggo-mortensen-in-existential-quest">Continue reading...</a>JaujaViggo MortensenFilmCultureWesternsThu, 09 Apr 2015 21:45:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/09/juaja-review-viggo-mortensen-in-existential-questPhotograph: /Everett Collection/RexThe silent type … Viggo Mortensen in Jauja. Photograph: Everett Collection/RexPhotograph: /Everett Collection/RexThe silent type … Viggo Mortensen in Jauja. Photograph: Everett Collection/RexPeter Bradshaw2015-04-09T21:45:07ZViggo Mortensen: ‘Often people are desperate, so I do what needs to be done’https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/05/viggo-mortensen-interview-jauja
<p>Viggo Mortensen is not a man to do things by halves: he’s been starved, beaten and frozen for the sake of his art. Now he’s got lost in the pampas of Patagonia. Alice Fisher hears why the actor makes life so hard for himself</p><p>Viggo Mortensen is in his socks – he likes to go shoeless whenever he can – and is making a cup of tea. If this does not seem a thing of note, you’ve never watched Viggo brew. He carefully portions out green leaves from his own pouch into his personal silver vessel – a modern version of the South American mate gourd – then decants the water into a silver Thermos, adding the leaves to brew. “I’m ready to go,” he says, pulling his vessel close.</p><p>I mean, obviously he’d have been ready to go five minutes ago if he’d just dunked a tea bag in a cup with a slosh of milk like most of us do, but it’s clear Viggo likes to do things on his own terms and to his own very precise standards. You just have to look at his CV to see that. Viggo became an internationally fancied and bankable star as Aragorn, king of men, in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/lord-of-the-rings"><em>Lord of the Rings</em></a> trilogy starting back in 2001. It’s a reputation he’s cemented over the years, in large part with another trio of films – <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/a-history-of-violence"><em>A History of Violence</em></a><em>, </em><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/eastern-promises"><em>Eastern Promises </em></a>and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/a-dangerous-method"><em>A Dangerous Method</em></a><em> </em>– all directed by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/davidcronenberg">David Cronenberg</a>. Though he received an Oscar nomination for <em>Eastern Promises </em>in 2007, Viggo never capitalised on the earning potential the <em>LOTR</em> franchise offered. In fact, that idea is baffling to him. He says he only took the role of Aragorn to please his son, Henry, who was around 10 years old at the time.</p><p>Making a movie is not always about being paid – there is no limit to what you can learn</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/05/viggo-mortensen-interview-jauja">Continue reading...</a>Viggo MortensenFilmCultureSun, 05 Apr 2015 07:30:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/05/viggo-mortensen-interview-jaujaPhotograph: Suki Dhanda/Observer'I just want to be in movies that I wouldn’t mind seeing 10 years from now': Viggo Mortensen. Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the ObserverPhotograph: Suki Dhanda/Observer'I just want to be in movies that I wouldn’t mind seeing 10 years from now': Viggo Mortensen. Photograph: Suki Dhanda for the ObserverAlice Fisher2015-04-05T07:30:09ZNine things we’ve learned about rings, hobbits and Peter Jackson’s epic sagahttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/06/nine-things-weve-learned-about-hobbits-rings-and-peter-jackson
With the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, director Peter Jackson’s 13-year journey comes to an end – but it nearly didn’t happen at all<p>Thirteen years, six movies, 18 hours of footage, thousands of beards, wigs and bushy eyebrows, not to mention hundreds of miles of toupee tape to attach them to actors’ faces. And now, with the release of <em>The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies</em>, the saga of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is finally over — at least until the extended versions in special-edition embossed Blu-ray boxed sets, possibly festooned with hair shaved from the feet of an actual living hobbit, arrive on the shelves in time for next Christmas.</p><p>But rather than carping about the myriad ways in which audiences will be entreated to pay again for these films or about the pernicious effects of money and riches on the souls of mortals, let us think instead of all the ways in which Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies changed the landscape of cinema. Just as there are nine members of the Fellowship, here are nine things we have learned from Peter Jackson’s six-picture behemoth …</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/06/nine-things-weve-learned-about-hobbits-rings-and-peter-jackson">Continue reading...</a>The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five ArmiesFilmPeter JacksonViggo MortensenCultureAndy SerkisUK newsJRR TolkienNew Zealand holidaysSat, 06 Dec 2014 11:56:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/06/nine-things-weve-learned-about-hobbits-rings-and-peter-jacksonPhotograph: /Sportsphoto/AllstarSmaug the dragon about to pounce in The Battle of the Five Armies. Photograph: Sportsphoto/AllstarPhotograph: /Sportsphoto/AllstarSmaug the dragon about to pounce in The Battle of the Five Armies. Photograph: Sportsphoto/AllstarRyan Gilbey2014-12-06T11:56:42ZActors, musicians and journalists sign statement supporting Edward Snowdenhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/nov/13/edward-snowden-the-nsa-files
<p>An international coalition of more than 50 actors, musicians and intellectuals have announced their support for Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks and similar whistleblowers. </p><p>They have signed a statement in praise of the boldness and bravery of whistleblowers "who risk their lives and careers to stand up for truth and justice." </p><p>"The courage that Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers and truth-tellers have shown, and continue to show, is truly extraordinary and necessary in helping the public have access to their historical record through media."</p><p>"We stand in support of those fearless whistleblowers and publishers who risk their lives and careers to stand up for truth and justice. </p><p>Thanks to the courage of sources like Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, Jeremy Hammond and Edward Snowden, the public can finally see for themselves the war crimes, corruption, mass surveillance, and abuses of power of the US government and other governments around the world. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/nov/13/edward-snowden-the-nsa-files">Continue reading...</a>MediaEdward SnowdenThe NSA filesNSAWikiLeaksChelsea ManningSurveillanceSusan SarandonViggo MortensenNoam ChomskyTerry GilliamRoddy DoylePJ HarveyRussell BrandVivienne WestwoodHanif KureishiKen LoachJohn PilgerFreedom of informationLaura PoitrasThu, 13 Nov 2014 08:49:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/nov/13/edward-snowden-the-nsa-filesRoy Greenslade2014-11-13T08:49:00ZWhy I'd like to be … Robert De Niro in Heathttps://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/25/role-model-robert-de-niro
Continuing our series in which writers reveal which movie characters they emulate, Rowan Righelato discloses that he's Robert De Niro on his commute, Tim Roth in a row <br />and Viggo Mortensen while rambling<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/23/george-sanders-peter-bradshaw-role-model">Peter Bradshaw: why I'd like to be George Sanders</a><br />• <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/24/joseph-cotten-xan-brooks-role-model">Xan Brooks: why I'd like to be Joseph Cotten</a><p>Every morning, for the three minutes it takes to traverse Victoria station concourse, I <em>am</em> Robert De Niro. Specifically, I'm Robert De Niro as existential anti-hero Neil McCauley in Michael Mann's Heat. Devilishly handsome in his razor-sharp goatee, he strides through the film full of intense purpose, his dark, slitted eyes continuously flitting from left to right, clocking everything as he negotiates the crowds.</p><p>As anyone who has tried to get from one side of Victoria to the other at rush hour knows, you need that kind of acute concentration of focus not to trip over the wheelie briefcases, slip on the discarded Metros, or walk slap-bang into a businessman chattering obliviously into his phone. To make it through this chaos, I draw on the memory of repeated viewings of Heat, pigeon my toes, narrow my eyes, summon McCauley's steely determination and hyper alertness, and bowl like Bobby. OK, so his mission was to rob millions of dollars, lose an FBI tail and execute a snitch, while mine only involves reaching the entrance to the tube without incident, but we're talking peak hours on London Transport, capiche? What's the difference?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/25/role-model-robert-de-niro">Continue reading...</a>Robert De NiroCultureViggo MortensenPulp FictionThe Godfather IITaxi DriverThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingTim RothWed, 25 Jun 2014 06:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/25/role-model-robert-de-niroPhotograph: theguardian.comRowan beats the queues at the ticket machinePhotograph: theguardian.comRowan beats the queues at the ticket machineRowan Righelato2014-06-25T06:30:00Z